Borriello and Brighi lift Roma out of bottom three

Gergely Rudolf reduced the arrears with just over 10 minutes to go, but Genoa were unable to find an equaliser as both teams tired towards the end of a competitive match.

Roma were claiming a penalty in the seventh minute when Borriello went down inside the area, but the referee did not fall for his dive after he had nudged the ball past Eduardo but apparently gone over when he noticed the ball was rolling out of play.

Roma had a good reason to complain in the 15th minute when Francesco Totti had a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside after he lobbed Eduardo delightfully having been put through on goal by David Pizarro.

The home side were laying siege to the Genoa goal and the next chance fell to Borriello, who again rounded Eduardo, but this time he found the outside of the post with his shot.

Totti pounced on the rebound, but shot straight at the Portuguese goalkeeper.

Despite all their early pressure, Roma risked falling behind in the 27th minute when Domenico Criscito cut into the penalty area from the left, but he refused to use his weaker right foot and could only shoot wide of the far post with the outside of his left.

The home side finally went ahead in the 34th minute when Borriello gambled on a low cross from Totti, which took a minor deflection off Criscito and was then flicked inside the near post by the former Genoa striker.

Genoa started to respond in the second half with Rudolf on for Rodrigo Palacio, but Roma doubled their advantage in the 53rd minute. A great demonstration of one-touch football involving Simone Perrotta, Brighi and Borriello finished with Brighi lifting the ball over Eduardo while on the floor.

Genoa were still not accepting defeat and Rudolf hit the top of the crossbar in the 57th minute after being put through by another substitute Giuseppe Sculli.

Totti had the stadium on their feet applauding his audacious attempt to lob Eduardo from deep inside his own half, but despite hitting the target, Eduardo had managed to return to his goal in time to prevent the ball from going in.

Seconds later, Totti set up Borriello with a fine backheel and the subsequent shot skimmed the top of the crossbar.

Rudolf gave Genoa hope with a determined run into the penalty area and a well-taken goal in the 78th minute, but the guests were too tired to find an equaliser as Roma held out for their second win of the season.
 

Source: espnsoccernet.com